I love to use things as they were not made to be used. I get a big kick out of it.

Such as: I love to use umbrella stands as extra toilet paper holders. They are so much prettier and decorative than their plain boring ones from the department stores which are rudimentary, perfunctory and pedestrian.

Things that are purely functional in my house? Tell me where and I’ll toss it out!

Here are some examples which you and I might consider using in our bathrooms and powder rooms.

Note: Make sure the inner diameter is adequate for the regular roles as well and the double-sized rolls now offered.

I may have told you in the past that I also love using wine buckets as magazine holders instead of the regular ones like baskets and etc. I use the two-bottle buckets as they are oval and are the perfect size!

The the one I use in the powder room I re-decorated last year. I just love the way it is scolloped and I love the lions on the end.

Lions and scollops make everything just a bit more majestic, don’t you agree? :)

Recently, we were apprised of a proposed addition to the world of punctuation: the “ElRey Mark,” a symbol that looks a bit like an exclamation point with a dot at each end. As weird as it looks, we actually think it sounds pretty useful — the mark is meant to be read as “somewhere between the deadpan period and the excitable exclamation point.” That is, it’s the perfect punctuation mark for every polite email you’ll ever send. In honor of the ElRey, we’ve put together a list of ten obscure punctuation marks that we’d love to see in print more often. Did we miss your favorite? Think we’re crazy? Let us know in the comments.

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I’m a full-on word nerd. Always have been. I’ve always wanted/needed to know the origins of words, phrases, anything!! This curiosity regarding this subject and many more, ..too many to list right now ..are what has kept my thirst for knowledge sated…sated that is until the next curious thing I just must know everything about! Knowledge is power and power is exhilarating!

Given that all we do is write about culture all day, we at Flavorpill are always fascinated by words and the tricksy ways they come to be. Recently, we’ve been thinking about the etymology of common words, particularly the ones that can be traced back to specific people in history, whether authors, scientists, or just wealthy estate agents who were, well, boycotted by the town around them. After the jump, twenty common words that originated as people’s names — and there are many more!

The 7th Earl of Cardigan. Portrait by Sir Francis Grant

begonia — “Any of various tropical or subtropical plants of the genusBegonia, widely cultivated as ornamentals for their usually asymmetrical, brightly colored leaves.” After Michel Bégon (1638-1710), former governor of the French colony of Haiti and patron of botany.

bloomers — “A costume formerly worn by women and girls that was composed of loose trousers gathered about the ankles and worn under a short skirt.” After Amelia Bloomer, a women’s rights advocate who popularized the style in the early 1850s.

bowdlerize — “To remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, for example).” After Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare in 1818, leaving out things like Ophelia’s suicide (it was an accidental drowning, of course), and sanitizing Lady Macbeth’s “Out, damned spot!” into to “Out, crimson spot!”

boycott — “To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion.” After Captain Charles Boycott, a former British soldier serving as the estate agent for an absentee landlord, the Earl of Erne, in County Mayo, Ireland. During the Irish “Land War,” when Boycott refused his tenants’ demands for a 25% reduction in rates and began evicting them, politician Charles Parnell and the Irish Land League began to ostracize him and his family, depriving them of service in stores, mail delivery, and other necessities.

cardigan — “A knitted garment, such as a sweater or jacket, that opens down the full length of the front.” After the Seventh Earl of Cardigan, James Thomas Brudenell (1797-1868), a British cavalry officer who led the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava during the Crimean War, supposedly while wearing his signature knitted wool wasitcoat.

chauvinism — “1. Militant devotion to and glorification of one’s country; fanatical patriotism. 2. Prejudiced belief in the superiority of one’s own gender, group, or kind.” After legendary French soldier Nicolas Chauvin, who served in Napleon’s army and is credited with stupendously patriotic acts, including getting himself wounded 17 times. Supposedly, Napoleon himself presented the soldier with a Sabre of Honor.

dahlia — “Any of several plants of the genus Dahlia native to the mountains of Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, having tuberous roots and showy, rayed, variously colored flower heads.” After Anders Dahl, an obscure Swedish botanist, whose name was given to the flower after his death by Abbe Antonio Jose Cavanilles, Director of the Royal Gardens of Madrid.

decibel — “A unit used to express relative difference in power or intensity, usually between two acoustic or electric signals, equal to ten times the common logarithm of the ratio of the two levels.” After Alexander Graham Bell — that is, a decibel is one tenth of a bel, the uncommonly-used unit of measurement named after the inventor of the telephone.

fuschia – “A dark purplish-red color.” After Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), the German scientist frequently cited as one of the founding fathers of botany. No stories of German scientists wearing pink here — it was the plant that was named for him; the word wasn’t used to describe color until 1892.

guppy — “A small, brightly colored live-bearing freshwater fish (Poecilia reticulata or Lebistes reticulatus), native to northern South America and adjacent islands of the West Indies and popular in home aquariums.” After R.J. Lechmere Guppy (1836-1916), the Trinidadian clergyman who supplied the first specimens of the fish to the British Museum.

The Marquise de Pompadour. Portrait by François Boucher

jackanapes — “A conceited or impudent person.” After William de la Pole, Fourth Earl and First Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450), whose nickname was “Jacknapes,” derived from “Jack of Naples,” a slang term for a monkey. Yes, mocking the nouveau riche goes back to the 1300s.

leotard — “A snugly fitting, stretchable one-piece garment with or without sleeves that covers the torso, worn especially by dancers, gymnasts, acrobats, and those engaging in exercise workouts.” After Jules Léotard (1830-1870), the French aerialist who created the style.

masochism — “The deriving of sexual gratification, or the tendency to derive sexual gratification, from being physically or emotionally abused.” After Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), the Austrian author of Venus in Furs, which has quite a bit of the stuff in there.

maverick — “1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it. 2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.” After Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803–1870), a Texas lawyer and cattleman famous for refusing to brand his cattle.

pompadour — “A woman’s hairstyle formed by sweeping the hair straight up from the forehead into a high, turned-back roll.” After Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, the Marquise de Pompadour, who was the official mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 until her death, rocked this hairstyle, and was accused of causing the Seven Years’ War.

saxophone — “A woodwind instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece and a usually curved conical metal tube, including soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone sizes.” After Belgian instrument designer and musician Adolphe Sax, who invented the instrument in 1846.

sandwich — “Two or more slices of bread with a filling such as meat or cheese placed between them.” After John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich credited with inventing the popular lunch item. As the story goes, the Earl was so busy at the card table that he didn’t have time to eat, and would ask his servants to bring him his meat and cheese stuck between two pieces of bread. When asked what they wanted, his friends would say, “the same as Sandwich!” And thus the sandwich was named.

sideburns — “Growths of hair down the sides of a man’s face in front of the ears, especially when worn with the rest of the beard shaved off.” After American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside, who had some super gnarly facial hair. “Burnside” became “sideburns” somehow, and the rest is history.

silhouette — “A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.” After Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), a French finance minister who imposed strict economic restrictions on the rich during the Seven Years War. His name came to refer to anything done inexpensively, and particularly to the black outline portraits, the very cheapest way to capture your likeness.

wellington boots — “Knee-length or calf-length rubber or rubberized boots, worn esp in wet conditions Often shortened to wellies.” After Arthur Wellesley the 1st Duke of Wellington, who “invented” the shoe when he asked his shoemaker to whip him up a modification of the 18th-century Hessian boot, something able to withstand battle as well as being comfortable to lounge about in in the evening.

Like all we crafty types, I sometimes peruse Etsy for things I could buy. Something unusual, something I can re-purpose maybe.

So when I saw this on Etsy, I thought: Picture frame? Could I put family pics in it and put it on the shelf with the others? Definitely maybe.

THEN:

I turned it upside-down ( like people do). Immediately I saw……. say it with me fellow Princesses: Crown! Right?! Okay, then what to do with an overly ornate crown thingy. I can’t wear it obviously. (Well, I thought about it for a mo until I took into consideration the thing is weighty and would cave my fool skull in.)

Then what? Well, I was re-doing Guest Bathroom A at that time and thought: fancy guest towel holder? Hang it up on the wall and hang three guest towels. One very fancy/pretty in the middle and one on each side: Guests know how I LOVE to layer on guests towels. One reason being that I never want anyone to be embarrassed as to which towel is “the one, or ones” to use. Leaving the middle one just for show.

And then today I get this idea: How about a wicked-cool necklace or belt hanger to hang in the closet? OR, maybe a bed-crown hung from the wall above a bed with fabric draping all the way to the floor.

What do you ladies (or gents) think? Help me decide how to best use this unusual item. Maybe you can think of something I haven’t thought of!

I was looking for images to confirm that the clock frame was indeed of the Victorian era. It is Victorian and I thought the one I bought was all fancy shmancy until I saw this one peacock-fannying about in the internet tubes. Pffft!

I’m sharing this with Feathered Next Friday. Thank you for letting us have this party in which to share!

You’ve heard me go on about these inserts before….so now I’m doing it again! I’ve also recently found another style of Insert which I like just as well!

These are fantastic. I’ve been using them for years and I can tell you they make all the difference. Not just in organization, but it helps you keep your purse clean so it keeps as much as it’s value as possible if you were to sell it !!

I found these below on eBay recently. They have proven to be just fantastic. They’re lightweight and provide a great cushion for all our stuff! Check these out on the eBay if you get the chance. I’ve been using these the most lately, (sorry Chameleon, I still love You!)

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I’ve developed a tiny bit of a girl-crush on Blake Lively’s style lately. Her exquisite taste in clothing and they way she wears them effortlessly. Effortlessly!

Wouldn’t I love to do that?! I fidget constantly. Not a good look for any woman; fidgeting with their clothes.

Anyway: What struck me lately was this picture of her dessert/cake table from her wedding to Ryan Reynolds. I cannot convey just how impressed I am with the simplicity of this setting. It is completely opposite of what I would have considered to be her wedding style.

How utterly refreshing and I am truly impressed with its simplicity and smack-dab elegance one wouldn’t think a major Star would do.

Brava! Ms. Lively. Or should I say, Brava! Mrs. Ryan Reynolds!

Lovingly girl-crushing ~~ D

Of course one should never be shy about the size of one’s engagement ring. *go girl!

I believe the rest of the wedding pics will be found in The Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine soon.